by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jul 18, 2020 | RELAX: Memoir, RESIST: Politics
If you’ve been present for the last five years, you know that Donald Trump (herein mostly referred to as 45*) is all about winning. But sometimes his wins aren’t especially positive. Like the story Mary Trump tells in her new book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jul 8, 2020 | RELAX: Memoir
Caitlin Myer explores family, identity and the role of women in her upcoming book Wiving: A Memoir of Loving then Leaving the Patriarchy. The story starts in Provo, Utah where she’s the youngest child in a medium-sized Mormon family. And her Art Professor dad holds it...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | May 30, 2020 | LEARN: Everything Else
Mark Nepo is the only author with a spiritual bent that I consistently read. And his May 2020 book, The Book of Soul: 52 Paths to Living What Matters is no exception. It’s a peaceful, warm, and caring respite from a world on fire. Nepo talks about topics such as how...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | May 19, 2020 | RELAX: Historical Fiction
Joan Didion invites us into late 1960s Hollywood in her novel Play It as It Lays. Maria (pronounced Mar-eye-ah) Wyeth is a struggling actress, whose fledgling career is in a stall. Although she’s married to a connected and somewhat powerful man, Carter Lang, they’re...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | May 5, 2020 | LEARN: Medical Memoir
Casey Schwartz writes a memoir and social history mash up in Attention, A Love Story. She’s a thirty-something woman who started using Adderal, a drug to treat ADHD, in college. But she took it without being diagnosed. It’s just one of those things college kids do,...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Feb 26, 2020 | RELAX: Memoir
Musician Mikel Jollett didn’t have an easy childhood. In his upcoming memoir, titled Hollywood Park, he tells his story. It’s a moving exposition of many topics, from cults to chronic depression, addiction, and the power of family to both hurt and heal. Jollett’s...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Sep 8, 2019 | LEARN: Everything Else, RESIST: Social Justice
Johann Hari did so much more than enlighten me in his book Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs. I met all the players in this war, from the government officials to the cartels and dealers, to those on the global leading edge of...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jul 31, 2019 | RELAX: Other Relaxation
Matthew Quick provides a window into the mind of his unique Everyman main character in The Silver Linings Playbook. Pat Peoples is a thirty-something guy who has just been sprung from “the bad place” by his mom and her legal team. And he tries hard to reintegrate...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | May 31, 2019 | RELAX: Historical Fiction
Greer Macallister did it again. With Woman 99, she wrote another book I couldn’t stop listening to and reading. Macallister has a way with her portrayals of strong, but flawed, women. In Woman 99, she gives us several who fit that mold.Her chief protagonist is...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Mar 20, 2019 | RESIST: Politics
I purchased this group of essays, edited by Bandy X. Lee, M.D., M. Div., in 2017. However, this month was the perfect time to read them. The issue of President Donald Trump’s psychological makeup has been making more headlines and tweets than ever. In fact, it was his...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Feb 26, 2019 | RELAX: Memoir
Terese Marie Mailhot bares it all in her memoir, Heart Berries. Nothing’s off limits—abuse, mental illness, dysfunctional family and relationships. I often say that a good memoir lets me slide inside the author’s skin. This is a rough skin to spend time in, and I give...
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